Rotary engine



July 4, 1944.

' H. F. WOLSTENHOLME ROTARY ENGINE Filed March 30 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 1ATTORNEY July 4, 1944. H. F. WOLSTENHOLME ROTARY ENGINE Filed March 30,1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Harry FWOZSYJIIJIOZ'M, I

ATTQRNEX I y .1944- H. F. WOLSTENHOLME 2,352,8 77

ROTARY ENGINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 30, 1942 diiorne y.

in such engines in that it makes Patented July 4,1944

A 5 UNITED PATENT omcg;

.j 12,352,877 I -R01ARI ENGINE Harry F. Wolstenho1me, Paterson, N. l y

- Application-MarchflO, 1942, Serial No. 436,756

" Claims, (o1.- 121-49) This invention relates torotary fluid engines(-bywhich I mean either an'engin'e which acts to impel or pump, or whichis driven by, a fluid) of the tivpe in which the principal movi'ng'parts include what is herein termed a rotor element or rotor and'anoscillator element or oscillator, the former "havingspaced abutments inthe cylinder and the latter having a piston in the cylinder between theabutments; incidentally, in such engines either thecylinder-includingelement or the rotor may undergo rotation, thoughusually it is the latter. The invention is an improvement it possible tohave the fluid acted on, as in the case ofapump',

or to act, as in the case where the rotation is fluid-effected, at eachside of the piston-em each side of each piston or each abutment if, asusual,

there is a plurality of each.

My invention is predicated on an engine of the indicated, class inwhichmeans, carried by the i rotor and including a rotary member "(in theexample shown, taking the form of a planetgear meshing with a sun-gearon the cylinderincluding structure) tractively engaged with a portion ofthe cylinder-including element circumferentially of the cylinder andconcentric with its axis, is present to move the oscillator relativelyto the rotor through a given-number of complete back-and-for th strokeson each complete'cycle, Ora-completerotation, of one of the'fir'stitwo-elernents-relatively to the other. (Wherever hereinaiter'used thetermstroke" is taken" as a synonym for back-and-forth strokej) With sucha means present, while the oscillator 'oisc'il lates with reference tothe rotor, with respect to the cylinder-including element it undergoeslong advances when it is moved forward, and advances at best shorterthan such long advances when it is moved backward, relatively to saidrotor while meanwhile moving with it. t

It will facilitate an understanding of my inven tion first to regard theengine as a pump. Accordingto the invention the piston should have thatlengthwise segment thereof which in passing the intake and exhaust portsimmediately adjoins the same not greater than the advance attained bysuch segment relatively to the cylinder during the backward part of anyof said strokes of the oscillator; and to attain complete compressionand hence efiiciency the length of said seginfent should be less thanthe over-all lei'igth of, the piston (wherefore the piston will not havethe usual radial planiform faces) andthe adjoining faces of theabutments should he so' formedjas substantially "to parallel said'endfaces ofthe piston. The intake port is arranged forward of and adjacentthe point which the forward end of said segment attains at the end ofthe pistons long advance, and the exhaust port (with respect to thecharge received at that intake port) is arranged rearward of andadjacent the point which the aft end of said segment attains at the endof a subsequent long advance of the piston. If said segment of thepiston has the "indicated length and the ports are arranged as specifiedthen intake will occur first between the piston and the forward abutment(in the interval -between long advances, as on a short advance, of thepiston) and then between the'piston and the rearward abutment (duringthe interval of long advance of the piston); and exhaust will occurfirst between the piston and forward abutment (during the interval oflong advance of thepiston) and then between the piston and rearwardabutment (in the interval between longadvances, as on a short advance,of the piston). and; as noted, if said segment has "less lengththan theover-all length of the piston (as bythe piston having converging endfaces, as herein shown) and the; adjoining faces of the abutments aretor-med substantially to parallel said endfaces of the piston there willbe good compression and the maximum efliciency. x

Next, assume the engine'is one which is fluidimpelled, as an internalcombustion engine of the four-cycle type. Here the means which"transmitsoscillations tothe piston shouldbgsuch that the oscillator will undergoa given'number of complete revol ltionof'that one of the two ele mentsincluding the rotor'and cylinder which rotates, one of such doublestrokesjfbeing for intake and compression and'theother for explosion andexhaust. The construction and operation of the engine will in such casebe essentially the same as already indicated except {or the presence ofan igniter, asja sparkplug," between the two ports and to be operative,with compression, with respect to one 'back-and-forth stroke of theoscillator while thereafter explosion and exhaust take place withrespect to, theother such stroke. f flj In the drawings, I

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved engine, here of theinternal-combustion type, with apprtion of the near half of the casingof the fixed structure broken away nd. the osciIlatorat the beginning ofa'short stroki l 'Fig.2'isa section on line 2-1,. Fig. l; Fig. 3 is aview similar to Fig; 1' but showing the cylinder, here six in number.

The fixed structure in Figs. 1 to 3 may be pro vided by twosubstantially similar casing sections; 15.;

I shaped to include the halves of an annular cylinder 2 having acontinuous slot 3the casing affording central bearings 4 in which isjournaled the main shaft 5and a sun-gear 6 concentric with the cylinder.Fast on the shaft is the rotor 1 whose rim portion extends through theslot and .is equipped with equally spaced abutments B in Free to turn onthe shaft is the oscillator 9 whose rim also extends through the slotand has equally spaced pistons l0, alternating with the abutments. (Therotor and oscillatorseal the slot.) The preferred shapes of theabutments and pistons will be hereinafter explained. A planet-gear H isin mesh with the sun-gear and means to transmit motion to the oscillatorfrom such gear here includes a link l2 pivotally connecting eccentricpoints y and a: of the planet-gear and oscillator.

For each complete rotation of the rotor the oscillator should undergo agiven number of complete 'back-and-forth strokes, or here six, which inany case means that the circumference ofthe planetgear at its pitch-lineshould be equal to the width .of any of equal-width segments of thesun-gear at its pitch-line. The igniters, as spark-plugs, are indicatedat l3, here three in number, equally spaced and operatively exposed tothe interior of the cylinder. An intake port I4 is shown rotatively aftand an exhaust port rotativelyforward of each spark-plug; the rotationof the engine may be in either direction, but it is here assumed to beclockwise. e

Referring, now, to the diagram, 5, in which for simplicity I have shown;the sungear jand planet-gear in a different ratio from that of Figs. 1and .3, to wit, so that the planet-gear undergoes but four completerotations to one complete rotation of the rotor; but the ratio isimmaterial so long as in the case of a four-cycle engine the oscillatorundergoes a given number of double back-and-forth strokes for eachcomplete rotation of the engine. The rotor is assumed to be rotating atconstant speed in the direction of the arrow and, in this diagram, theoscillator undergoes alternately short and long advances short, from aposition in which a spoke 9a thereof is here assumed to register (merelyto simplify the explanation) with the trailing rotor spoke Ia of therotor to the dotted position, and long, from the first-named position tothat in which it registers with the rotor'spoke 1a when the rotor hasadvanced one'quarter of its cycle, or to its dotted position. This isdue to some given positioning of the pivot y of the planet-gear and thepivot a: of the oscillator. Thus, with pivot 1] atleast near the limitof its forward throw, being substantially within the pitch-linecircumference of and also in a diameter of the planet-gear thatisperpendicular to a radius of the rotor coincident. with the axis of theplanet-gear, thenwhen the latter turns a half-revolution (or from thefull-line to the dotted-line position) the oscillator will undergo itsshort forward advance and when the planet-gear turns the nexthalf-revolution, or again to the full-line position, the oscillator willundergo its long forward advance, or move from registry (here) withspoke la to registry with spoke 1b of the rotor.

(The length of the short advance is not material; in fact it may be,reduced more or less or quite to nil, so that in the latter case therewould be no advance whatever in the interval between long advances butrather actual pauses relatively to the rotor, as if the pivot at 1/ wereso located that in the two half-revolutions of the planetgear as shownby Fig. 5 the two points such pivot assumes would be the base apexes ofan isosceles I triangle.

But as to this see hereafter.)

If, as shown in Figs. 6 to 9, the length of that lengthwise segment ofthe piston which in passing a given point of the cylinder immediatelyadjoins such point hasa length not greatenthan each advance attained bysuch segment relatively to the cylinder during the backward part of anyback-and-forth stroke of the oscillator then it is only a matter ofplacing each intake port, igniter and exhaust port, in the propercooperative positions, or substantially as shown and as follows: theintake forward of and adjacent the point which the forward end of saidsegment attains at the end of the pistonslong advance; the igniter(rotatively forward of the intake) forward of and adjacent the pointwhich the forward end of said segment attains at the end of thepistonsnext long advance; and, the exhaust port (rotatively forward ofthe igniter) rearward of the point which the aft end of said segmentattains at the end of a subsequent long advance of thev piston.

Now since the engine so far described is of the impelled type, withpresence of igniters, the said segment will be that lengthwise portionof ;each piston which in passing the igniter immediately adjoins thesame. The acting faces of the pistons and abutments might be radialexcepting that perfect efiiciency would not be possible in that when thespace between any piston andabutment is fully contracted such spacewould be too capacious for full compression: whetherthe abut,- ments beincreased in length or the pistons short 'ened, or vice versa, inseeking to avoid this,,either a piston or an abutment wouldin suchcaseat one end of the short advance of the piston eclipse the igniten, Henceto attain adequate compression the remainder of each piston is madelonger than such segment, hereby forming the end faces of the piston toconverge, andthe abutments are formed with their end faces substantiallyparalleling those of the piston, wherebyit is possible to devise thepistons and abutments withsuch' over-all lengths that when any piston isat the end of a throw in either direction its end face will besufficiently close to the end face of an abutment to attain propercompression, the eclipsing being avoided. The endfaces of the pistonsand abutments being thus biased, the intake and exhaust ports may be, asshown, lozenge-shaped, with those sides of each intake port which crossthe cylinder parallel-with the leading face of the piston and thecorresponding sides of the exhaust port parallel with thejaft face ofthe piston. v 1, q

In the diagram Figs. 6 to 9 only one oscillator piston and two abutmentsare shown, as. the pie-.- ton and abutment shown by fulllines; at theextreme right in Fig. 1 and the abutment antie clockwise adjoining suchpiston. The rotation is assumed to be clockwise, as per the arrowsshown. In Fig. 6 the leading abutment and piston are about to undergomovement on explosion and the following abutment the movement forcompression. In Fig. '7 the leading abutment and piston (the formerhaving advanced from radius I to radius II) are about to undergomovement for exhaust and the following abutment movement on explosion.In Fig. 8 the leading abutment and piston (the former having advanced toposition III) are about to undergo movement for intake and the followingabutment movement on exhaust. And in Fig. 9 the leading abutment andpiston (the former being advanced from radius III to radius IV) areabout to undergo movement for compression and the following abutmentmovement for intake. The intake ports i4 and exhaust ports l5 are hereshown by broken lines merely to facilitate distinguishing them. In theseFigs. 6 to 9, as also in Fig. 1, each piston and adjoining abutmentundergo the mentioned four operations three times during one completerevolution of the abutment, as evident from the three igniters l3 shown.7

Now it will be obvious to any one skilled in this art that the enginemay be a pump by simply omitting the igniters and arranging. the intakeand exhaust ports so that both would be operative during a singleback-and-forth stroke of the oscillator instead of, as in the case of afourcycle internal-combustion engine, the intake ports being operativeon the alternate and the exhaust ports on the remaining strokes. Fig. 4is present to show the engine as so altered and with receiving anddischarge spaces l8l9 with which the intake and exhaust ports would berespectively arranged to communicate.

Whether the engine be of the fiuid-impelling or fluid-impelled type, thenovel fundamental isgiven the cylinder-including, rotor and oscillatorelements, the oscillator having a piston between two abutments on therotor, and the means, substantially as described, to oscillate theoscillator during relative rotation of the first two elements-that thatlengthwise segment of the piston which in passing the intake and exhaustports immediately adjoins the same has a length not greater than theadvance attained by such segment relatively to the cylinder-includingelement during the backward part of any stroke of the oscillatorelement. If such length be less than the over-all length of the pistonand the faces of the abutments which adjoin the piston are substantiallyparallel with faces of the latter the space between the piston andeither abutment when it is closest to the latter may be of the minimumcapacity for good compression.

It has been indicated that the length of the short advance of the pistonis not material-- that it may be actually reduced to nil-in which casethe form of each piston as viewed in side elevation (Figs. 1 and 2)would not be a truncated triangle but a triangle complete with an apex.In such case it would only be a matter of timing the action of theigniter (assuming the engine is an internal-combustion engine) to obtainexplosion first as to the charge compressed ahead and then as to thecharge compressed aft of the piston.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A rotary engine including an element itself including an annularcylinder having a slot extending continuously of the cylinder around themain cylinder-axis and also having an intake port and an exhaust port, arotor projecting through said slot and having spaced abutments in thecylinder, one such element being rotatable around 7 said axis relativelyto the other, an oscillator element rotative around said axis andprojecting through the slot and having a piston in the cylinder movablefrom either abutment into proximity to the other abutment, and means,carried by the rotor element and including a rotary member tractivelyengaged with a portion of the firstnamed element circumferential of thecylinder and concentric with said axis, to move the oscillator elementrelatively to the rotor element through a given number of completeback-andforth strokes on each complete rotation of the rotary one of thefirst two elements, said'piston having a lengthwise segment thereofwhich in passing said intake and exhaust ports immediately adjoins thesame of a length not greater than the advance attained by said segmentrelatively to the first-named element during the backward part of anystroke of the oscillator element, and said intake port being arrangedforward of and adjacent the point which the forward end of said segmentattain at the end of any long advance of the piston and said exhaustport being arranged rearward of and adjacent the point which the aft endof said segment attains at the end of the pistons subsequent longadvance.

2. The engine set forth in claim 1 characterized by the length of saidsegment being less than the over-all length of the piston and by thefaces of the abutments which adjoin the piston being arranged tobesubstantially parallel with the end faces of the piston when thepiston and abutment are in close proximity to each other.

3. The engine set forth in claim 1 characterized by the end faces of thepiston converging toward said segment and by the end. faces of theabutments which next adjoin the piston converging in the relativelyopposite direction.

HARRY F. WOLSTENHOLME.

